Fast tracking trade pact is wrong path for U.S.

The economy and the environment go hand-in-hand and are both deeply tied to the rules of global trade. Californians know that. We’ve experienced the devastating effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and we can’t afford another job and environmental-destroying trade pact.

That’s why, as representatives of the Sierra Club, the largest grass-roots environmental nonprofit in the nation, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents approximately 750,000 active members and retirees, we have grave concerns about the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This massive trade pact between the United States and 11 other countries along the Pacific Rim could affect nearly every aspect of our lives, from the quality of our air and water to the quality of our jobs. It could give even more power to corporations resulting in environmental degradation, devastating job loss and another big hit to America’s fragile middle-class.

Most alarming of all, President Obama wants Congress to “fast track” approval of this trade pact that has been negotiated in secret. Few people in the world have even seen the draft and know what it contains.

Fast-track authority for trade pacts restricts Congress to casting a simple up or down vote, with limited debate and all amendments forbidden. With fast track, Congress cannot make sure the contents of our trade pacts are in the interest of all Americans. In other words, it basically provides zero transparency for the American public.

Part of the proposed trade pact would let foreign corporations sue governments over policies that might affect the company’s future profits. This is extremely dangerous. It means protections for clean water, safeguards for workers like the minimum wage, and other environmental and labor policies could all be threatened by greedy corporations only interested in the bottom line, no matter the cost to American families.

To make matters worse, the risks to our air, water, and land increase as we expand trade along the Pacific Rim. The illegal timber trade leads to deforestation, which kills our forests and animal habitats. Trade in illegally taken wildlife or wildlife parts threaten iconic animals, such as the tiger, with extinction. Pacific Ocean ecosystems are at risk from unsustainable commercial fishing. Some of the most biologically significant and diverse parts of our planet are imperiled, including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and California’s precious national parks.

The trade pact must include strong and binding language to protect plants and animals and prevent pollution of our land, air, and water. It also must contain strong safeguards against the loss of American jobs and protections for human rights.

California lost 86,500 jobs — more than any other state — to Mexico after NAFTA went into effect, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is shaping up to be even more damaging — a “NAFTA on steroids.” It’s time to stop letting big corporations ship California’s jobs overseas and dump our middle class overboard along the way.

California needs fair and responsible trade deals, not more “free trade” modeled after the failed North American Free Trade Agreement — a deal that cost working families their jobs and undermined critical environmental protections.

Fast-tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a race to the bottom at a time when San Diegans need our elected representatives to take us up the high road. That’s why we’re urging Representative Susan Davis to join Representatives Jared Huffman, John Garamendi, Juan Vargas, Scott Peters, and numerous other legislators in opposing fast tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Costa is chair, International Committee, San Diego Sierra Club. Mowrey is international vice president, 9th District, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.